In recent years, advances in technology, as well as ever-evolving tastes in style, have led to substantial changes in the design of automobiles. One of the changes involves the complexity of the electrical systems within automobiles, particularly alternative propulsion vehicles that utilize voltage supplies, such as hybrid, battery electric, and fuel cell vehicles. Such alternative propulsion vehicles typically use one or more electric motors, often powered by direct current (DC) power sources, perhaps in combination with another actuator, to drive the wheels.
Such vehicles often use two separate voltage sources, such as a battery and a fuel cell, to power the electric motors that drive the wheels. Power electronics, such as direct current-to-direct current (DC/DC) converters, are typically used to manage and transfer the DC power from one of the voltage sources and convert to more or less voltage. Also, due to the fact that alternative propulsion automobiles typically include direct current (DC) power supplies, direct current-to-alternating current (DC/AC) inverters (or power inverters) are also provided to invert the DC power to alternating current (AC) power, which is generally required by the motors.
Because of the complexity of these electrical systems, various electromagnetic interference (EMI) is generated which can hinder the performance of some of the components, including inverters and converters. As a result, EMI filters are often provided to reduce any adverse effects from EMI. However, the filters typically utilize a rather high number of components, are somewhat large, and considerably increase costs.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an EMI filter for automotive electrical systems with a reduced number of parts and a smaller size, while decreasing costs. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.